All you need to know about Tipping

As Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Ncl all announce the increase in their gratuities I thought I would share all you need to about Tipping.

If you sit by reception on any cruise ship with British passengers at the start of any holiday, you can watch as one by one us brits come by, asking for the gratuities to be removed from our account.
The issue of gratuities is guaranteed to get British cruisers hot under the collar. Its definately a culture thing as the americans don’t think twice about handing out dollar bill tips to people for opening a car door for them or serving a drink in a bar its just not what us Brits do.
Cultural or not, gratuities have always been a headache for cruise lines do they include them in the cost or not ?
None of the middle market companies will go down that route as they will look expensive against their against competitors.
Instead, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines , Norwegian Cruise Lines and Princess allow you to pre-pay your gratuities; on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises it is compulsary to pre pay if you wish to take the freedom dining option. Pre-paying is more convenient as you don’t have to break into your holiday spending money, and cruise lines like it because they know you have paid, but as you are giving the gratuity before you have even cruised, you should see it as an extra charge rather than a tip rewarding good service .
It’s all a long way from the traditional cash-in-envelopes method of the past, which gave way to vouchers in envelopes. This has the benefit of allowing us to put the tip on their end-of-cruise account but kept the personal touch. But that is one of the things the British don’t like, so it changed again, to automatic gratuities and no envelopes. Now even P&O Cruises and Fred Olsen, which held out for the old way for a long time, simply put a per person per night charge to every passenger’s cruise account.
However, the tip remains optional on all cruise lines bar Costa Cruises p
The amount you are advised to tip varies enormously between cruise lines, with the likes of P&O Cruises and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines recommending a moderate £5 person per night and Oceania Cruises, topping the chart by adding $14.50 (£9.14) a night to all shipboard accounts, or a whopping $20.50 (£13) if you are in a suite.
Ultra-luxury cruise lines such as Silversea, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Crystal Cruises, include gratuities in the cruise price. British cruise lines including Thomson Cruises and Swan Hellenic, recognise that tipping is not something the British are comfortable with include it in the cost.

A overview to tipping costs per person per day
Azamara Club Cruises Included
Carnival Cruises $12
Celebrity Cruises $12.95 up to $16.95 depending on cabin standard
Costa Cruises Cruises from Europe €8 / Cruise from caribbean & usa – $11/ World cruise €7
Cruise & Maritime £5
Crystal Included Included
Cunard $11.50 to $13.50 depending on cabin
Disney $12
Fred Olsen £4
Holland America Line $11
Island Cruises Included
MSC $12
NCL $12.95
Oceania $15 up to $22
P&O Cruises £5
Princess Cruises $11.50
Regent Included
Royal Caribbean $12.95 upto $15.95
Seabourn Included
Seadream Included
Silversea Included
Swan Hellenic Included
Thomson Included
Voyages of Discovery Included
Voyages to Antiquity Included
Windstar $12

What are your thoughts on tipping ?